


late nights

by acaivert



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Long, Platonic Relationships, Sad, they're younger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 12:43:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17808182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acaivert/pseuds/acaivert
Summary: i Felt This when i started to tweet it and thought "why not?" so basically it's just chloe and max on the phone after the move, chloe is sad and max is there (to the best of her ability)





	late nights

The long stretches of silence aren't what get her. It's how empty they are. Usually they were only this quiet when working on homework in Chloe's room, splayed out on the floor. Now there was barely even a way to tell they were on the phone, or that they had been for well over an hour now. Max felt like the only thing she could do was apologize. Chloe had told her that she had heard for the past two weeks were apologies and that the last thing she wanted to hear from Max was a reminder of how fucked up everything was. So it was silent. Occasional sniffles picked up and she could feel her chest ache with how badly she just wished she could wrap her arms around her best friend and never let go.

"Max?" Her voice was small, and cracked over the one syllable. She pulled herself from her thoughts and wiped her eyes as if she could see her.

"Yeah? What's up?" She was amazed at her ability to keep her voice steady. She used to be able to ramble for hours with Chloe, and now she could barely manage a few words through her crushing guilt. She almost didn't notice Chloe's response pushing through her mental spiralling once again.

"I don't want to be alone," her voice turned up at the end like she remembers it doing at the end of "Finding Nemo". She wasn't ever much of a crier, and especially not an open crier. But Max knew her too well, although she didn't call any attention to it.

"I'm right here. I promise I won't hang up," the sound of Chloe shifting slightly and a wobbly sigh was the only response for a while. "It's really late Chlo, maybe you should sleep."

"Yeah. If I can't will you be here?" her voice turned up again, just like on her birthday when Max gave her one too many hints on what her present was and she figured it out seconds later. It was a special thing that only Chloe did.

"I swear. You have my word. I'll be here all night," Max shifted too, getting as comfortable as she could while still holding the phone to her ear. She pulled the blanket up to her shoulders and sighed herself. It had been a long day. Silence filled the air again, but this time it was a little lighter. For the last time Chloe's voice, weak and raspy and tired, rang from the other line.

"I love you, Maxine," Max felt her breath stop for a half second. She never called her that. They had been saying 'I love yous' since they were in grade school and never once had it felt like this. It felt serious and real. It felt.. mature? There really wasn't a way to describe how it felt. She realized she hasn't said anything back and regains herself before letting out the most emotional and honest thing she's ever said to Chloe in their eight years of knowing each other.

"I love you, Chloe Elizabeth," she felt something lift. Everything still hurt so much, but it hurt just a bit less. The air didn't feel so suffocating and heavy around her. She felt like she could breathe. For the first time since she moved to Seattle, she felt at home. All because of Chloe.

They never said goodnight, just drifted off to sleep. Max waited until she could hear deep, steady breathing before she really settled into her bed and closed her eyes. She fell asleep thinking about the one person who had always been there for her. She fell asleep imagining that the breathing she could barely hear over the cars outside being right next to her like when she spent the night. She fell asleep in Chloe's old hoodie that she was getting rid of with the faded design on the front and the holes from earlier adventures littering the sleeves and pocket.

She fell asleep and only woke back up twice to whisper Chloe's name and make sure she didn't need her. She gave her her word.

**Author's Note:**

> yeah i type like im illiterate and write like dickinson, what of it?


End file.
